Cam phasers are known devices which are used in engines to vary valve timing. Many cam phasers, such as vane-type cam phasers, include locking covers which are attached outside of the moving components of the phaser. The locking cover may act as a stationary component which helps to hold a rotor in a stator and facilitates locking of a locking pin.
FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate an example of a prior art locking cover 100 which may be used in conjunction with a cam phaser. The locking cover 100 is ring-shaped, including a body 102 of uniform thickness having a center bore 104 extending therethrough. The locking cover 100 further includes a plurality of through holes 106 which receive fasteners for holding the locking cover 100 to a stator of the cam phaser (not shown). The locking cover 100 further includes a second through hole 108 which receives a bushing 110. The bushing 110 is cup-shaped in order to form a space 112 for receiving a locking pin therein.
Current manufacturing methods that are typically employed to form the locking cover 100 include molding using powdered metal and fine blanking. However these processes use a relatively large amount of raw material to produce the locking cover 100. In turn, cam phasers that utilize the known locking cover 100 are large, heavy, and have a high manufacturing cost, in part due to the locking cover construction. Attempting to address some of these issues by simply resizing the uniform thickness of the locking cover 100 is not a suitable solution as this would reduce its strength and render the locking cover 100 more susceptible to cracking or other types of deformation. Moreover, a uniformly thinner locking cover would not match the thickness of existing bushings 110.
The present disclosure is directed to overcoming one or more problems of the prior art.